Rental Scammer - [email protected]

From: James Anderson <[email protected]>
Date: Sun, Apr 10, 2011 at 11:11 AM
Subject: Re: $550 Furnished 1-bedroom (Dupont Circle)
To: Con Warner


Hello,

Thanks for your email .I'm James Anderson, the owner of the Apartment you are in renting.Actually I resided in the apartment with my family for some months and we moved away due to my transfer from my working place, my apartment is still available for rent for $550 per month including the utilities like hydro,washer and security,it is furnished.Right now I'm in West Africa for a crusade and i would like you to get in touch with my wife in the United states for more discussion as she is with the keys and the documents to the apartment.Please I want you to note that,i am a kind and honest man and also I spent a lot on my property,so i will solicit for your absolute maintenance of this apartment and I want you to treat it as your own.I want you to keep it tidy all the time so that I will be glad to see it neat when I come for a check up,I do that once in a while.I want to have trust in you as I always stand by my words.Let us know how soon you are willing to move in.Email my wife Anita ,on ( [email protected] ) and she will attend to you better.

ADDRESS TO THE APARTMENT : 1808 Connecticut Ave NW Washington, DC 20008

Thanks for your interest.
James Anderson

This person asks for a deposit payment via Western Union or MoneyGram with a promise that he will send the keys through a courier company.

Sounds safe. It's not!

At other times, he will ask for proof that you are able to pay the deposit and rent due to a string of time wasters.
This proof is in the form of a Western Union or MoneyGram payment to a friend or family member.

In either case, if payment is made and you give this person the details, they will collect the money.
You will not hear from them again.

If you are reading this because you are looking for property to rent, and you are in contact with this thief you are probably searching Craigslist, Gumtree or similar listing sites. If you receive any requests from 'Landlords' asking for some kind of payment before viewing, then it will also be a scam. Please forward the mail to me at the address in my signature line and I will investigate and list them if necessary.

Also...

Email my wife Nora,on ( [email protected] ) and she will attend to you better

From: Nora Walter <[email protected]>
Date: Sun, Aug 7, 2011 at 11:11
To: Con Warner


Thanks for your email, My husband own the apartment.I want you to know that it was due to my husband's transfer that made us to leave the apartment and also want to give it out for rent and looking for a responsible person that can take good care of the apartment, we are not after the money for the rent but want it to be clean all the time .So for now,I am in Florida in the United States in our new home and also I am with the keys and documents of the apartment,we tried to look for an agent that we can give this documents before we left but could not see and we don't want the apartment to be used any how in our absence that is why we took the keys and documents along with us here and as you know that,my husband over in the West Africa for a mission of God,so i hope you will promise us to take very good care of the apartment.So get back to me on how you could take care of our apartment or perhaps experience you have in renting a home.Hope you are okay with the price per month with hydro,heat laundry facilities,air condition, internet connection and so on.View pictures in the attached files.I am looking forward to hearing from you ASAP so that i can forward you an application to fill out and discuss on how to get the apartment for rent.

Hope to read from you soon
Nora Walter

I just received this same e-mail, just with different names.

Hello,

Thanks for your email . I'm John Oliver, the owner of the Apartment you are in renting.Actually I resided in the apartment with my family for some months and we moved away due to my transfer from my working place, my apartment is still available for rent for $550 per month including the utilities like hydro,washer and security,it is furnished.Right now I'm in West Africa for a crusade and i would like you to get in touch with my wife in the United states for more discussion as she is with the keys and the documents to the apartment.Please I want you to note that,i am a kind and honest man and also I spent a lot on my property,so i will solicit for your absolute maintenance of this apartment and I want you to treat it as your own.I want you to keep it tidy all the time so that I will be glad to see it neat when I come for a check up,I do that once in a while.I want to have trust in you as I always stand by my words.Let us know how soon you are willing to move in. Email my wife Mary ,on ( [email protected] ) and she will attend to you better.

ADDRESS TO THE APARTMENT : 1808 Connecticut Ave NW Washington, DC 20008

Thanks for your interest.

I just got an abbreviated e-mail of the same kind for the same address.

Hello,

Thanks for your email . I'm John Lauren the owner of the Apartment you are in renting. Let us know how soon you are willing to move in. My apartment is still available for rent for $550 per month including the utilities like hydro,washer and security,it is furnished. kindly forward your inquiry to my wife Mary ,on ( [email protected] ) and she will attend to you better.

ADDRESS TO THE APARTMENT : 1808 Connecticut Ave NW Washington, DC 20008

Thanks for your interest.

Right now I'm in West Africa for a crusade

The scammer also believes that telling you to contact someone else makes them appear more credible, whereas it only makes them irritating and appear stupid.

Unfortunately scammers share ideas and it may represent an easy way to spot some of the scams, because there's no point giving you an e-mail contact address and then asking you to contact someone else. In their minds it makes you more likely to believe their fairy tale, when the mail is only going to another mail account the scammer controls. It seems like a clever idea to him.